Fire at Sea

A deserving, timely winner of this year’s Berlinale Golden Bear, Gianfranco Rosi’s potent documentary explores the human national no-man’s land of Lampedusa, the island that represents the border of Europe. A through point for thousands of refugees and migrants over the past two decades, it’s the home of Samuele, a 12-year old kid living a normal life of school, hunting, and his slingshot. But there will always be the spectre of the sea, and the path it represents for people fleeing their homelands for the promise of a new life. A humane portrait of a crisis laid bare.